Celebs with issues: Saving the planet

Updated 5:20 PM ET, Fri September 19, 2014

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Actor Robert Redford made the environment his cause decades ago, whether it was Alaskan wildlife refuges or climate change. For his commitment, Redford was honored with the Walden Woods Project's 2014 Global Environmental Leadership Award on September 15. Here, Redford speaks at the opening of the Natural Resources Defense Council building in Santa Monica, California, in 2003. It's named the Robert Redford Building. Redford is just one of many celebs who've taken a stand or taken a chance to change the way we power the planet.

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Photos:Celebs with issues: Saving the planet

Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Actress Daryl Hannah was handcuffed and arrested while protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline in February 2013. She's also the executive producer of the documentary "Greedy Lying Bastards," which explores climate change denial.

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Photos:Celebs with issues: Saving the planet

Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – After Hurricane Katrina leveled New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, actor Brad Pitt announced a plan to build 150 ecologically sustainable homes there. The homes, an initiative of his Make It Right Foundation, "exceeded my expectations," Pitt said in 2010. "Now every house you see here, last month, every one but one was producing more energy than it was consuming."

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. has made a living going green with shows like "Living with Ed." He dropped meat, avoids driving and tries to live off the electrical grid in a self-sufficient home. In February 2013, he spoke at a rally in Los Angeles for action on climate change.

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – In 2010, the Sydney Theatre Company in Australia switched on solar panels on the rooftop of its historic home, The Wharf theater. Sustainability is part of the vision of the theater's artistic directors, actress Cate Blanchett and her husband, Andrew Upton.

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Actor Edward Norton ran a marathon to support conservation in the east African grasslands. He has also campaigned for sustainable energy and served as a United Nations goodwill ambassador for biodiversity. "I think catastrophic events like what's happening in the Gulf with the oil spill do highlight for people that there is enormous ramification for human well-being through a loss of biodiversity," Norton said in 2010.

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Actor Leonardo DiCaprio gets green cred for his solar house and hybrid car, but he also produced and narrated the documentary, "The 11th Hour." The film details environmental problems and considers solutions.

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Actress Cameron Diaz starred in "Cameron Diaz Saves The World!" It was a short online film that sussed out Americans' feelings about the environment. She briefly hosted an MTV eco-show, "Trippin'." And who could forget when she announced she doesn't flush after urinating -- no water wasted! Time magazine even called her one of its environmental heroes of 2009.

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Actor Morgan Freeman has spoken up over the years about finding clean, safe energy sources, and he has lent his voice to several projects, including PBS' "e² energy" series. He also owns a Tesla Model S, a high-end electric sports car, The Hollywood Reporter said.

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Sure, he's well-known because he's former Vice President Al Gore. But he also won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his efforts to combat climate change, and his 2006 film, "An Inconvenient Truth," won an Oscar for best documentary.

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – The Dave Matthews Band has a long reputation of eco-responsibility, using a biodiesel tour bus, offering organic-cotton merchandise and using carbon offsets for its tour. That reputation took a hit after the band's bus driver was accused of dumping human waste into the Chicago River, with some sludge raining on a tour boat. (Ew.) The band wasn't on the bus, but after a lawsuit, it agreed to pay a settlement and make big donations to groups supporting the the river and parks.

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Celebs with issues: Saving the planet – Actor Orlando Bloom falls into that hybrid-driving, solar-supporting celeb camp. He's a regular at green events, and he supports initiatives like Global Cool, an organization with a mission to raise awareness about climate change.